E3 2005: Animal Crossing Revolution

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Is Nintendo's life simulator franchise headed to its next-generation console? Details here.

By Matt Casamassina

Nintendo is planning to take its popular life simulator franchise, Animal Crossing, to its next-generation console. In an interview with IGN today, Animal Crossing DS's producer hinted that a future Revolution version is a possibility. He later confirmed the news.

Animal Crossing enabled GameCube owners to live in a virtual world, manage a business, and grow to maturity. The title also offered a unique connection to the Game Boy Advance. Using the link cable, owners of Nintendo's portable could visit Animal Island in the GameCube title. Then, they could download the Island to their Game Boy Advance and continue playing on the go.

IGN asked the Nintendo producer of the in-development Animal Crossing DS, Katsuya Eguchi, if a similar mode would be available in the DS title. His answer suggests that a connection between the DS title and a still-unannounced Revolution sequel could emerge.

"The reason why we created the Animal Island was to give something for people to take with them on the Game Boy Advance," Eguchi explained. "Maybe with the DS we'll do something similar between the DS and Revolution."

In a follow-up interview, Eguchi confirmed that Animal Crossing Revolution is in development.

Nintendo's Revolution console will be Wi-Fi enabled out of the box, which means the system can wirelessly connect to the Internet for online gaming. This, of course, makes it the perfect choice for an Animal Crossing sequel. The nature of the franchise's mechanics have always revolved around community functionality.